


Summon the Will

by Jimmy_Rustled_Bird



Series: Wondrous Tails FFXIV Scraps and Scribbles 2020 [5]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angry with worry, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Healer tank, Rhalgr's Reach attack, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, let's be reasonable au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24031321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jimmy_Rustled_Bird/pseuds/Jimmy_Rustled_Bird
Summary: The crew have arrived in Rhalgr's Reach, Gyr Abania.  Fordola has launched her attack- it is the first of two the group need to worry about.  Flirting with death, as Mingxia finds out yet again, is a painful, awkward dance that she really should try to avoid as much as possible.  It worries her friends, how often she nearly died in just that fight against Zenos alone.
Relationships: Foulques & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Series: Wondrous Tails FFXIV Scraps and Scribbles 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1694854
Kudos: 6





	Summon the Will

Mingxia often wondered about many things. Why was Garuda always wild and bloodthirsty, for example, or what had Ifrit meant when he said they belonged to another. Whether the heavens and the hells were real, and whether it was possible to tame a diremite, because what could be cooler than riding on a giant scorpion? 

Every so often she wondered about more mundane things.

Like why was there a sword currently lodged in her side and why was she not dead yet.

Or wait, no, she knew why. That sword belonged to the tall, very violent Garlean in front of her that seemed to know who she was but would not dignify her with a name- neither his nor hers. He had been trying to kill Foulques, who was standing behind her, and who would surely have been killed if she hadn’t decided to literally become his shield. This Garlean was leading the second attack on this little base of operations in about...what was it, a sennight? Or was it a few suns? She didn’t remember, and frankly, not important right now. Oh, she had regeneration active. That was probably what was keeping her alive.

Foulques was angry. Justifiable, she thought. But the anger was a mask for terror. Thank the Twelve he wasn’t freezing up but she really, really needed him to leave.

Her first attempt at speaking caused her to nearly spit a glob of blood at him. She coughed it out facing front, gripping the sword and trying to stop it from going...anywhere, really.

  
  


“Mingxia…?!” he said in shock. That was his friend. With a sword jutting out of her gut. Why on Nophica’s green earth was she still standing?!

“Go!” she managed to wheeze out. “Go...get the others. Get Serella, leave. Standby. Gonna need...help. After.”

“Have you taken leave of your senses?! He will kill you if you fight him alone!” he hissed.

“It is  _ you _ who will die if you stay here!” Mingxia coughed again, a low scream keening in her throat as her opponent yanked his sword out of her. She wordlessly cast powerful healing spells on herself, reversing the damage as best as she could. Mechanically. As if she were used to this happening to her. “He is a monster. So am I. I will live. Go get Serella, Raven if you can find her. I am not as weak as I look. Go, before he takes interest in  _ you _ .”

“Tch. Very well. If you die, I will raise you to kill you again,” he growled, and ran. The armored Garlean did not give chase. Mingxia glanced at the white flower growing at the top of her staff. Half-red.

“How disappointing. You’ve become weaker, Beast.” The Garlean commented, circling her like a lion on the hunt. He lunged at her, not giving her time to reply. Her Echo pulsed in forewarning, and she sidestepped away. 

He attacked again. She dodged. He attacked. She dodged. He attacked. She took it, and healed herself back to nearly full. He attacked. She was struck, it was unavoidable. She healed. He attacked. She dodged. Once, she was knocked down. She steeled herself and got up, healing herself before he could finish the job. And then she ran some more.

This seemed to go on forever. He came to attack, she ran or dodged or healed herself and tried to sneak in an attack here and there- which did absolutely nothing. Whoever this was, he was simply too strong. 

_ I think I might actually die _ , she thought disjointedly as her body was flung around like a ragdoll and punctured with so many strikes. Holes that she resealed and swiftly healed, leaden legs that she temporarily invigorated so she could stand back up and keep the cycle going. For how long, she didn’t know- probably not much longer, since whoever this was was starting to sound quite bored.

She got stabbed again. She fell, rolled, and healed. She took a moment to summon the will to get back up, to keep fighting.

“Is that all you can do? How  _ boring _ .” drawled the attacker, raising his sword, presumably to do some more permanent damage. She set her jaw, drew what little mana she had left and prepared to cast several spells in succession which would hopefully blunt enough damage to leave her alive.

“ _ GET AWAY FROM HER!”  _ A woman- no, two women and a man roared from ...Not That Far Away. Mingxia drew a breath, concentrated and spoke the spell for Holy, praying it would act as both a signal and blind her opponent for long enough to get some distance. Her gigantic foe had no choice but to raise his sword- swords,  _ Mephina’s skillet when did he draw another one?! _ -to block a greatsword, a blast of fire, and a thrown spear.  _ And Foulques! I told him to get out of here! _

She yelped as she was lifted and slung over Foulques' shoulder like a sack of rice. 

"I can still fight," she protested weakly.

"As if you did  _ not _ just get stabbed multiple times and thrown about like a chew toy. Truly, the picture of health, raring to fight," he said sarcastically as he bolted for the cave at the back of the Reach. "Be reasonable, Mingxia. You look ready to fall over, and I highly doubt you would last another minute. More of your blood is on your robes than in your body."

He set her down in the dimly lit cave. He shoved a piece of beef jerky into her hands. "Eat that," he ordered, and turned his attention towards the battle outside. She started to relax, just a little bit-

Bad idea.

The fatigue and  _ all _ of the aches, both the unhealed  _ and _ the healed ones hit her with the force of a charging marid. The world swayed unpleasantly. Instinctively, she braced herself against the wall, and her cane fell with a clatter. She bit down hard on the tough jerky, trying to ride out the pain.

“Still think you could have lasted out there?” Foulques glanced over at her, his sarcastic words carrying no bite.

“Haha…” Mingxia gasped, delirious from the pain. “You...you sound like Estinien. He’d...he’d say that too. But what else...what else could I do?” Foulques said nothing, watching her and scowling as another patch of red bloomed on her back. 

"You could have let me help. I’m not some helpless babe that cannot fight." He dug into his pack for bandages and alchemical salves. "Hold still."

"He would have killed you. Hells, he almost killed  _ me _ , and I'm shielded by a divine being- aaaahhkssssss that's cold!" She hissed as Foulques dumped half a small bottle of a numbing disinfectant on her shoulder wound.

"Good, that means it works." He corked the bottle and pulled out another, pouring some onto a wad of gauze and using the bandages to tie it in place. He pulled her robe back over her treated shoulder. "Kind of a hypocrite, are you not? You were the one who said there is no shame in fleeing from hopelessly stacked odds- and yet here you are."

"Thank you," she said, keeping her shoulder still and leaning heavily on her other side.  _ For helping me. For worrying. For coming back.  _ "I...couldn’t run, Foulques. I can’t abandon everyone here. Serella and the rest were too far, and this man, for whatever reason, knows who I am. I’m sure he would have chased me. I can’t let him kill anyone else, there’s too few as it is."

He said nothing, glowering at her with enough force that if looks could kill, she would be a smoldering crater. “So you would let him kill  _ you _ instead? As if your life is an acceptable tribute? Were you not the one who, up until now, would refuse to take what you deemed to be unreasonable risk? What changed? Do you desire to play the hero so badly? Or did you simply fail to account for the damage your absence would cause to your friends?” He did not shout, but she flinched as if he had. “If your armour tells the truth, you have died at least five times already. A dead hero is no use to anyone. You would do well to remember that, novice.”

"I'm sorry. I'll be more careful," she answered quietly. 

He stands up, his movements small and tense as a coiled spring. He pressed a hi-elixir into her hands. “Your oath that you will not commit such foolishness again. Learn to rely on others for once. We did not follow you all this way to watch you die.”

“I promise,” she said, looking at her knees. “As much as I can.”

“Good enough. Drink that, it will help. Your friends are coming- Matron’s teats, all three of you-!” he growled. He gestured at them, his movements jerking with urgency. Were they hurt? “Stay where you are. I will handle this.”

In a daze, Mingxia remained in her spot, propped up against a wall as Foulques directed her stumbling sisters-in-arms to a bare spot in the cave and set about administering medicine and potions to heal their injuries. Their huge, gaping injuries. Guilt gnawed at her- was she the cause of that? Or was this man they faced such a monster that even her sisters together could not take him down? A chill ran down her spine. 

Foulques was right. She should have died already. And yet, this felt like...just another fight.

**Author's Note:**

> Wondrous Tails fills: Bandaging Wounds and Summon.


End file.
